Preventing messages from being sent using inappropriate communication accounts

ABSTRACT

A method, system and computer program product for preventing messages from being sent using inappropriate communication accounts. A message created by a user of a mobile device is analyzed to identify the topic and sentiment. The appropriateness of the message being sent to the intended recipient(s) using a selected communication account (e.g., company social media account) is determined based on one or more factors, including the analysis of the message to identify the topic and sentiment. A score is generated as to the appropriateness of sending the message to the intended recipient(s) based on such an analysis. If the score is less than a threshold value, then the message is deemed to not be appropriate to be sent to the intended recipients using the selected communication account. In this manner, potentially erroneous communications, such as accidentally posting a message to a wrong social media account, may be prevented.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to enterprise mobility, and moreparticularly to preventing messages from being sent using inappropriatecommunication accounts.

BACKGROUND

A growing trend among businesses is to allow employees to use theirpersonally owned mobile devices both to access company resources and touse and access their personal applications and data. This trend, knownas “bring your own device” (“BYOD”), significantly complicates the taskof protecting enterprise resources, including confidential and/orsensitive information, as well as provides the opportunity for the userto inadvertently post messages using an inappropriate communicationaccount.

For example, it is common for a user to have multiple e-mail, socialmedia and other communication accounts managed by the same mobiledevice. For instance, a social manager may have an official companyTwitter® handle as well as a personal Twitter® handle. A message couldbe posted to either account via the same application on the mobiledevice. As a result, it is not uncommon for the user to accidentallypost a message to one of the accounts (e.g., corporate account) that wasmeant to be posted to the other account (e.g., personal account) whichcontained some questionable content. In such situations, the user mayeven lose his/her job as a result of the accidental posting.

In another example, a user may send company confidential informationthrough the user's personal e-mail account (e.g., gmail® account), asopposed to the user's company e-mail account, with less securitycontrols thereby posing a potential security leak.

Attempts have been made to address security leaks via the use ofauthentication credentials. However, in the BYOD scenario, the userwould still be able to send confidential or sensitive information acrossmultiple communication channels since the user has valid authenticationcredentials. Furthermore, the user's posting of a message, such as amessage containing company confidential information, using aninappropriate communication account (e.g., personal e-mail account) maybe accidental.

Unfortunately, there is not currently a means for preventing sucherroneous communications.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for preventingmessages from being sent using inappropriate communication accountscomprises receiving a message from a user to be sent to one or morerecipients using a selected communication account. The method furthercomprises identifying the one or more recipients to receive the message.The method additionally comprises analyzing the message to identify atopic and a sentiment using natural language processing. Furthermore,the method comprises determining, by a processor, an appropriateness ofthe message to be sent to the one or more recipients using the selectedcommunication account based on the analysis of the message.Additionally, the method comprises generating a score as to theappropriateness of sending the message to the one or more recipientsbased on the determination of the appropriateness of the message. Inaddition, the method comprises displaying a notification regardingpotentially sending the message to the one or more recipients using aninappropriate communication account in response to the score being lessthan a threshold.

Other forms of the embodiment of the method described above are in asystem and in a computer program product.

The foregoing has outlined rather generally the features and technicaladvantages of one or more embodiments of the present invention in orderthat the detailed description of the present invention that follows maybe better understood. Additional features and advantages of the presentinvention will be described hereinafter which may form the subject ofthe claims of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when thefollowing detailed description is considered in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a communication system configured in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration of a mobile device forpracticing the principles of the present invention in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for preventing messages from beingsent using inappropriate communication accounts in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention comprises a method, system and computer programproduct for preventing messages from being sent using inappropriatecommunication accounts. In one embodiment of the present invention, amessage created by a user of a mobile device to be sent to intendedrecipients using a selected communication account (e.g., personal e-mailaccount, personal social media account) is received and the intendedrecipient(s) are identified. The message is then analyzed to identifythe topic and sentiment using natural language processing. Theappropriateness of the message being sent to the intended recipient(s)using the selected communication account is determined based on one ormore factors, including the analysis of the message to identify thetopic and sentiment, as well as historical communications with theintended recipient(s), the time of the intended communication, domainanalysis, analysis of lists of allowed and/or disallowed recipients toreceive messages using particular communication accounts and/or textanalysis rules provided by others in the user's social network. A scoreis generated as to the appropriateness of sending the message to theintended recipient(s) based on such an analysis. Such a score may thenbe compared with a threshold value, which may be user selected, todetermine whether to permit or prevent the user from sending the messageto the intended recipient(s). If the score is less than a thresholdvalue, then the message is deemed to not be appropriate to be sent tothe intended recipients using the selected communication account (e.g.,company social media account). In this manner, potentially erroneouscommunications, such as accidentally posting a message to a wrong socialmedia account or e-mailing company confidential information using apersonal e-mail account, may be prevented.

While the following discusses the present invention in connection withpreventing erroneous communications by a user of a mobile device, suchas a mobile device used by an employee in an enterprise environmentwhere the enterprise implements a BYOD policy, the principles of thepresent invention may be applied to non-mobile computing devices. Aperson of ordinary skill in the art would be capable of applying theprinciples of the present invention to such implementations. Further,embodiments applying the principles of the present invention to suchimplementations would fall within the scope of the present invention.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without such specific details. In other instances,well-known circuits have been shown in block diagram form in order notto obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. For the mostpart, details considering timing considerations and the like have beenomitted inasmuch as such details are not necessary to obtain a completeunderstanding of the present invention and are within the skills ofpersons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.

Referring now to the Figures in detail, FIG. 1 illustrates acommunication system 100 for practicing the principles of the presentinvention in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.Communication system 100 includes a mobile device 101 and client devices102A-102B (identified as “Client Device A,” and “Client Device B,”respectively, in FIG. 1) connected to a server 103 via a network 104.Client devices 102A-102B may collectively or individually be referred toas client devices 102 or client device 102, respectively.

Mobile device 101 may be any mobile computing device (e.g., mobilephone, cellular phone, smartphone, personal digital assistance (PDA),gaming unit, portable computing unit, tablet computer and the like)configured with the capability of connecting to network 104 andconsequently communicating with client devices 102 and server 103.

Client device 102 may be any type of computing device (e.g., portablecomputing unit, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), smartphone, laptopcomputer, mobile phone, navigation device, game console, desktopcomputer system, workstation, Internet appliance and the like)configured with the capability of connecting to network 104 andconsequently communicating with mobile device 101, other client devices102 and server 103.

Mobile device 101, client device 102 may be configured to send andreceive text-based messages in real-time during an instant messagingsession. Any user of mobile device 101, client device 102 may be thecreator or initiator of an instant message (message in instantmessaging) and any user of mobile device 101, client device 102 may be arecipient of an instant message. Furthermore, any user of mobile device101, client device 102 may be able to create, receive and send e-mails.Additionally, any user of mobile device 101, client device 102 may beable to send and receive text messages, such as Short Message Services(SMS) messages. The term “messages,” as used herein, encompasses each ofthese types of messages as well as posts to social media websites, suchas Facebook®, forums, wikis, etc.

Network 104 may be, for example, a local area network, a wide areanetwork, a wireless wide area network, a circuit-switched telephonenetwork, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network,Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) network, a WiFi network, an IEEE802.11 standards network, various combinations thereof, etc. Othernetworks, whose descriptions are omitted here for brevity, may also beused in conjunction with system 100 of FIG. 1 without departing from thescope of the present invention.

In communication system 100, mobile device 101, client devices 102A-102Binclude a software agent, referred to herein as an Instant Messaging(IM) client 105A-105C, respectively. Instant messaging clients 105A-105Cmay collectively or individually be referred to as instant messagingclients 105 or instant messaging client 105, respectively. Furthermore,server 102 includes a software agent, referred to herein as the InstantMessaging (IM) server 106. IM client 105 provides the functionality tosend and receive instant messages. As messages are received, IM client105 presents the messages to the user in a dialog window (or IM window).Furthermore, IM client 105 provides the functionality for mobile device101, client device 102 to connect to the IM server 106 which providesthe functionality of distributing the instant messages to the IM clients105 associated with each of the sharing users.

Mobile device 101, client devices 102A-102B may further include asoftware agent, referred to herein as an e-mail client agent 107A-107C,respectively. E-mail client agents 107A-107C may collectively orindividually be referred to as e-mail client agents 107 or e-mail clientagent 107, respectively. Furthermore, server 102 may include a softwareagent, referred to herein as the e-mail server agent 108. E-mail clientagent 107 enables the user of mobile device 101, client device 102 tocreate, send and receive e-mails. E-mail server agent 108 is configuredto receive e-mail messages from mobile device 101, client devices 102and distribute the received e-mail messages among the one or more mobiledevice 101, client devices 102.

While the preceding discusses each mobile device 101, client device 102as including an IM client 105 and an e-mail client agent 107, eachmobile device 101, client device 102 may not necessarily include each ofthese software agents. For example, some mobile devices 101, clientdevices 102 may only include an IM client 105; whereas, other mobiledevices 101, client devices 102 may only include an e-mail client agent107. In other words, each mobile device 101, client device 102 may beable to perform some or all of the functions discussed herein, such assending/receiving e-mails, sending/receiving instant messages,sending/receiving text messages, etc. Furthermore, while the precedingdiscusses a single server 103 including the software agents, such as IMserver 106 and e-mail server agent 108, multiple servers may be used toimplement these services. Furthermore, each server 102 may notnecessarily be configured to include all of these software agents, butonly a subset of these software agents. For example, one particularserver 102 may only include IM server 106; whereas, another particularserver 102 may only include e-mail server agent 108.

Furthermore, mobile device 101 includes a software agent, referred toherein as the “analysis engine” 109, configured to prevent messages frombeing sent using inappropriate communication accounts as discussedfurther below in connection with FIGS. 2-3. Such a mobile device 101 maybe used by an employee in an enterprise environment where the enterpriseimplements a BYOD policy. A description of the hardware configuration ofmobile device 101 is provided below in connection with FIG. 2.

System 100 further includes a Short Message Service (SMC) center 110configured to relay, store and forward text messages, such as SMSmessages, among mobile device 101, client devices 102 through network104.

System 100 further includes a social network server 111, which may be aweb server configured to offer a social networking and/or microbloggingservice, enabling users of mobile device 101, client devices 102 to sendand read other users' posts. “Posts,” as used herein, include any one ormore of the following: text (e.g., comments, sub-comments and replies),audio, video images, etc. Social network server 111 is connected tonetwork 104 by wire or wirelessly. While FIG. 1 illustrates a singlesocial network server 111, it is noted for clarity that multiple serversmay be used to implement the social networking and/or microbloggingservice.

System 100 further includes a database 112 configured to store textanalysis rules provided by other users (other users besides the user ofmobile device 101) in the user's social network (i.e., the socialnetwork of the user of mobile device 101). These text analysis rules, aswill be discussed further below, may be used to analyze theappropriateness of a message created by the user of mobile device 101 tobe sent to one or more recipients, such as the users of client devices102A-102B. In one embodiment, database 112, or a separate database 112,stores prior messages sent by the user of mobile device 101 to otherusers. Such communications may be used by analysis engine 109 todetermine the appropriateness of a message created by the user of mobiledevice 101 to be sent to the intended recipients as discussed furtherbelow in connection with FIG. 3. In one embodiment, database 112, or aseparate database 112, stores lists of allowed and/or disallowedrecipients to receive messages using particular communication accounts.Such lists may be used by analysis engine 109 to identify thoserecipients that are approved or not approved to receive messages usingvarious communication accounts as discussed further below in connectionwith FIG. 3.

System 100 is not to be limited in scope to any one particular networkarchitecture. System 100 may include any number of mobile devices 101,client devices 102, servers 103, networks 104, SMS centers 110, socialnetwork servers 111 and databases 112.

Referring now to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration ofmobile device 101 (FIG. 1) which is representative of a hardwareenvironment for practicing the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2,mobile device 101 has a processor 201 coupled to various othercomponents by system bus 202. An operating system 203 runs on processor201 and provides control and coordinates the functions of the variouscomponents of FIG. 2. An application 204 in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention runs in conjunction with operatingsystem 203 and provides calls to operating system 203 where the callsimplement the various functions or services to be performed byapplication 204. Application 204 may include, for example, analysisengine 109 for preventing messages from being sent using inappropriatecommunication accounts as discussed further below in connection withFIG. 3.

Referring again to FIG. 2, read-only memory (“ROM”) 205 is coupled tosystem bus 202 and includes a basic input/output system (“BIOS”) thatcontrols certain basic functions of mobile device 101. Random accessmemory (“RAM”) 206 and disk adapter 207 are also coupled to system bus202. It should be noted that software components including operatingsystem 203 and application 204 may be loaded into RAM 206, which may bemobile device's 101 main memory for execution. Disk adapter 207 may bean integrated drive electronics (“IDE”) adapter that communicates with adisk unit 208, e.g., disk drive.

Mobile device 101 may further include a communications adapter 209coupled to bus 202. Communications adapter 209 interconnects bus 202with an outside network thereby enabling mobile device 101 tocommunicate with other devices (e.g., client devices 102, server 103).

I/O devices may also be connected to mobile device 101 via a userinterface adapter 210 and a display adapter 211. Keyboard 212, touchpad213 and speaker 214 may all be interconnected to bus 202 through userinterface adapter 210. A display monitor 215 may be connected to systembus 202 by display adapter 211. In this manner, a user is capable ofinputting to mobile device 101 through keyboard 212 or touchpad 213 andreceiving output from mobile device 101 via display 215 or speaker 214.Other input mechanisms may be used to input data to mobile device 101that are not shown in FIG. 2, such as display 215 having touch-screencapability and keyboard 212 being a virtual keyboard. Mobile device 101of FIG. 2 is not to be limited in scope to the elements depicted in FIG.2 and may include fewer or additional elements than depicted in FIG. 2.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

As stated in the Background section, a growing trend among businesses isto allow employees to use their personally owned mobile devices both toaccess company resources and to use and access their personalapplications and data. This trend, known as “bring your own device”(“BYOD”), significantly complicates the task of protecting enterpriseresources, including confidential and/or sensitive information, as wellas provides the opportunity for the user to inadvertently post messagesusing an inappropriate communication account. For example, it is commonfor a user to have multiple e-mail, social media and other communicationaccounts managed by the same mobile device. For instance, a socialmanager may have an official company Twitter® handle as well as apersonal Twitter® handle. A message could be posted to either accountvia the same application on the mobile device. As a result, it is notuncommon for the user to accidentally post a message to one of theaccounts (e.g., corporate account) that was meant to be posted to theother account (e.g., personal account) which contained some questionablecontent. In another example, a user may send company confidentialinformation through the user's personal e-mail account (e.g., gmail®account), as opposed to the user's company e-mail account, with lesssecurity controls thereby posing a potential security leak. Attemptshave been made to address security leaks via the use of authenticationcredentials. However, in the BYOD scenario, the user would still be ableto send confidential or sensitive information across multiplecommunication channels since the user has valid authenticationcredentials. Furthermore, the user's posting of a message, such as amessage containing company confidential information, using aninappropriate communication account (e.g., personal e-mail account) maybe accidental. Unfortunately, there is not currently a means forpreventing such erroneous communications.

The principles of the present invention provide a means for preventingsuch erroneous communications as discussed below in connection with FIG.3. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method 300 for preventing messages frombeing sent using inappropriate communication accounts in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-2, in step 301,analysis engine 109 receives a message created by the user of mobiledevice 101 to be sent to recipient(s) (e.g., users of client devices102A, 102B) using a selected communication account (e.g., personale-mail account, personal social media account). In one embodiment, theuser of mobile device 101 is an employee in an enterprise environmentwhere the enterprise implements a BYOD policy.

In step 302, analysis engine 109 identifies the recipient(s) to receivethe message. For example, the user of mobile device 101 may create amessage to be sent to the users of client devices 102A, 102B. Analysisengine 109 would then identify those users as the intended recipients toreceive the message.

In step 303, analysis engine 109 analyzes the messages to identify thetopic and sentiment using natural language processing. The “topic”refers to the main subject of the message. For example, analysis engine109 may identify the topic of the message by focusing on keywords, suchas “travel,” “sports,” and “cars,” when analyzing the message usingnatural language processing. The “sentiment” refers to the attitude ofthe author with respect to the topic or overall contextual polarity ofthe message. For example, analysis engine 109 may identify the sentimentof the message by focusing on keywords, such as “dislike,” “disdain,”and “cheery,” when analyzing the message using natural languageprocessing.

In step 304, analysis engine 109 determines the appropriateness of themessage being sent to the intended recipient(s) using the selectedcommunication account based on the analysis of message (discussed instep 303), historical communications with the intended recipient(s), thetime of the intended communication, domain analysis, analysis of listsof allowed and/or disallowed recipients to receive messages usingparticular communication accounts and/or text analysis rules provided byothers (i.e., other users besides the user of mobile device 101) in theuser's social network (i.e., the social network of the user of mobiledevice 101).

As discussed above, a factor that may be used to determine theappropriateness of the message being sent to the intended recipient(s)is based on the analysis of the message discussed in step 303. Forexample, if the topic of the message relates to product marketingmaterial, then such a message may not be appropriate to be sent usingthe user's personal e-mail account (e.g., Yahoo!® e-mail account). Inanother example, if the sentiment of the message is a scathing politicaltweet, such a tweet should not be posted on the user's company Twitter®account.

Another factor that may be used to determine the appropriateness of themessage being sent to the intended recipient(s) is based on historicalor past communications with the intended recipient(s). Suchcommunications may be stored in database 112, where, in one embodiment,each of the communications sent by the user of mobile device 101 to arecipient is stored in database 112. In one embodiment, the messagecreated by the user of mobile device 101 may reference a historicalcommunication with the intended recipient(s). By having access to suchcommunications (e.g., e-mails), a clearer understanding of the createdmessage may be obtained. For example, the message created by the user ofmobile device 101 may reference a prior communication which talked aboutthe user's dog. By having access to such prior communications, analysisengine 109 may determine the appropriateness of sending the message tothe intended recipients using the user's selected communication accountusing natural language processing, where keywords, such as “dog,” in thereferenced prior communication are identified and analyzed using naturallanguage processing. For instance, if the user of mobile device 101intended to send the message to the user's manager, then such a messagemay not be appropriate since it references a historical communicationrelating to the user's dog.

Another factor that may be used to determine the appropriateness of themessage being sent to the intended recipient(s) is the time of theintended communication. For example, the user of mobile device 101 maytypically send work e-mails between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm and sendpersonal e-mails during the other hours. Hence, if the user of mobiledevice 101 intends to send a message using a work e-mail account ataround midnight, such a message may not be appropriate to be sent usingthe user's work e-mail account.

Another factor that may be used to determine the appropriateness of themessage being sent to the intended recipient(s) is domain analysis.Domain analysis refers to comparing the domain part of the e-mailaddress of the intended recipient with the user's selected communicationaccount. For example, if the user of mobile device 101 intends to send amessage to john.doe@us.ibm.com using the user's gmail® account, thensuch a message may not be appropriate to be sent using the user'spersonal e-mail account. Such a message may need to be sent using theuser's company e-mail account.

An additional factor that may be used to determine the appropriatenessof the message being sent to the intended recipient(s) is analyzinglists of allowed and/or disallowed recipients to receive messages usingparticular communication accounts. Such lists may be stored in database112 which indicate recipients that are approved or not approved toreceive messages using various communication accounts. For example, ifthe user of mobile device 101 intends to send a message to a recipientusing the user's company e-mail account but the recipient is identifiedon the list as not being allowed to receive messages form the user'scompany e-mail account, then such a message may not be appropriate to besent to the recipient using the user's company e-mail account.

Another factor that may be used to determine the appropriateness of themessage being sent to the intended recipient(s) is text analysis rulesprovided by others (i.e., other users besides the user of mobile device101) in the user's social network (i.e., the social network of the userof mobile device 101). Text analysis rules refers to the association ofthe use of certain keywords in messages that imply the use of particularcommunication account. For example, the use of the phrase “my bad” or“chillin” may be appropriate for non-business communications and hencewould be limited to communications using personal communicationaccounts, such as a personal e-mail account or a personal social mediaaccount. Such text analysis rules may be formed by other users in theuser's social network thereby allowing the user of mobile device 101 topopulate the data set used by analysis engine 109 to determine theappropriateness of the message being sent to the intended recipient(s).

In step 305, analysis engine 109 generates a score as to theappropriateness of sending the message to the intended recipient(s).Such a score is based on the analysis of step 304. For example, thegreater the likelihood that the message is appropriate to be sent to theintended recipients based on the factors discussed above in step 304,the higher the score. Such a score may then be compared with a thresholdvalue, which may be user selected, to determine whether to permit orprevent the user from sending the message to the intended recipient(s).

In step 306, a determination is made by analysis engine 109 as towhether it is appropriate to send the message to the intendedrecipient(s) using the selected communication account.

If it is appropriate to send the message to the intended recipient(s)using the selected communication account, then, in step 307, analysisengine 109 permits the message to be sent to the intended recipient(s)using the selected communication. For example, if the score generated instep 305 exceeds a threshold value, then the message is deemed to beappropriate to be sent to the intended recipients (e.g., user of clientdevice 102B) using the selected communication account (e.g., companysocial media account).

If, however, it is not appropriate to send the message to the intendedrecipient(s) using the selected communication account, then, in step308, analysis engine 109 displays a user message (e.g., a message isdisplayed to the user of mobile device 101 on display 215) regardingpotentially sending a message to recipient(s) using an impropercommunication account. For example, if the score generated in step 305is less than a threshold value, then the message is deemed to not beappropriate to be sent to the intended recipients (e.g., user of clientdevice 102B) using the selected communication account (e.g., companysocial media account). In this manner, potentially erroneouscommunications, such as accidentally posting a message to a wrong socialmedia account or e-mailing company confidential information using apersonal e-mail account, may be prevented.

In step 309, analysis engine 109 displays the appropriate communicationaccount(s) to use to send the message to the intended recipient(s). Forexample, the appropriate communication accounts, such as the user'spersonal social media account and the user's personal e-mail account,may be displayed to the user of mobile device 101 on display 215 toallow the user to select a different communication account to use tosend the message.

In step 310, a determination is made by analysis engine 109 as towhether the user selected a different communication account to use tosend the message. That is, a determination is made by analysis engine109 as to whether the user selected one of the appropriate communicationaccounts displayed to the user in step 309.

If the user did not select a different communication account to use tosend the message, then analysis engine 109 permits the message to besent to the intended recipient(s) using the selected communication instep 307.

If, however, the user selected a different communication account to useto send the message, then, in step 311, analysis engine 109 sends themessage to the intended recipient(s) using the newly selectedcommunication account.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

1. A method for preventing messages from being sent using inappropriatecommunication accounts, the method comprising: receiving a message froma user to be sent to one or more recipients using a selectedcommunication account; identifying said one or more recipients toreceive said message; analyzing said message to identify a topic and asentiment using natural language processing; determining, by aprocessor, an appropriateness of said message to be sent to said one ormore recipients using said selected communication account based on saidanalysis of said message; generating a score as to the appropriatenessof sending said message to said one or more recipients based on saiddetermination of said appropriateness of said message; and displaying anotification regarding potentially sending said message to said one ormore recipients using an inappropriate communication account in responseto said score being less than a threshold.
 2. The method as recited inclaim 1 further comprising: determining said appropriateness of saidmessage to be sent to said one or more recipients using said selectedcommunication account based on said analysis of said message and textanalysis rules provided by other users in said user's social network. 3.The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising: determining saidappropriateness of said message to be sent to said one or morerecipients using said selected communication account based on saidanalysis of said message and one or more of the following: historicalcommunications with said one or more recipients, domain analysis,analysis of lists of allowed and/or disallowed recipients to receivemessages using particular communication accounts and text analysis rulesprovided by other users in said user's social network.
 4. The method asrecited in claim 1 further comprising: displaying one or moreappropriate communication accounts to use to send said message to saidone or more recipients in response to said score being less than saidthreshold.
 5. The method as recited in claim 4 further comprising:sending said message to said one or more recipients using acommunication account selected from said displayed one or moreappropriate communication accounts.
 6. The method as recited in claim 1,wherein said message comprises one of the following: an electronicmessage, an instant message, a text message and a post to a social mediawebsite.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said selectedcommunication account comprises one of the following: an e-mail accountand a social media account.
 8. A computer program product for preventingmessages from being sent using inappropriate communication accounts, thecomputer program product comprising a computer readable storage mediumhaving program code embodied therewith, the program code comprising theprogramming instructions for: receiving a message from a user to be sentto one or more recipients using a selected communication account;identifying said one or more recipients to receive said message;analyzing said message to identify a topic and a sentiment using naturallanguage processing; determining an appropriateness of said message tobe sent to said one or more recipients using said selected communicationaccount based on said analysis of said message; generating a score as tothe appropriateness of sending said message to said one or morerecipients based on said determination of said appropriateness of saidmessage; and displaying a notification regarding potentially sendingsaid message to said one or more recipients using an inappropriatecommunication account in response to said score being less than athreshold.
 9. The computer program product as recited in claim 8,wherein the program code further comprises the programming instructionsfor: determining said appropriateness of said message to be sent to saidone or more recipients using said selected communication account basedon said analysis of said message and text analysis rules provided byother users in said user's social network.
 10. The computer programproduct as recited in claim 8, wherein the program code furthercomprises the programming instructions for: determining saidappropriateness of said message to be sent to said one or morerecipients using said selected communication account based on saidanalysis of said message and one or more of the following: historicalcommunications with said one or more recipients, domain analysis,analysis of lists of allowed and/or disallowed recipients to receivemessages using particular communication accounts and text analysis rulesprovided by other users in said user's social network.
 11. The computerprogram product as recited in claim 8, wherein the program code furthercomprises the programming instructions for: displaying one or moreappropriate communication accounts to use to send said message to saidone or more recipients in response to said score being less than saidthreshold.
 12. The computer program product as recited in claim 11,wherein the program code further comprises the programming instructionsfor: sending said message to said one or more recipients using acommunication account selected from said displayed one or moreappropriate communication accounts.
 13. The computer program product asrecited in claim 8, wherein said message comprises one of the following:an electronic message, an instant message, a text message and a post toa social media website.
 14. The computer program product as recited inclaim 8, wherein said selected communication account comprises one ofthe following: an e-mail account and a social media account.
 15. Asystem, comprising: a memory unit for storing a computer program forpreventing messages from being sent using inappropriate communicationaccounts; and a processor coupled to the memory unit, wherein theprocessor is configured to execute the program instructions of thecomputer program comprising: receiving a message from a user to be sentto one or more recipients using a selected communication account;identifying said one or more recipients to receive said message;analyzing said message to identify a topic and a sentiment using naturallanguage processing; determining an appropriateness of said message tobe sent to said one or more recipients using said selected communicationaccount based on said analysis of said message; generating a score as tothe appropriateness of sending said message to said one or morerecipients based on said determination of said appropriateness of saidmessage; and displaying a notification regarding potentially sendingsaid message to said one or more recipients using an inappropriatecommunication account in response to said score being less than athreshold.
 16. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the programinstructions of the computer program further comprise: determining saidappropriateness of said message to be sent to said one or morerecipients using said selected communication account based on saidanalysis of said message and text analysis rules provided by other usersin said user's social network.
 17. The system as recited in claim 15,wherein the program instructions of the computer program furthercomprise: determining said appropriateness of said message to be sent tosaid one or more recipients using said selected communication accountbased on said analysis of said message and one or more of the following:historical communications with said one or more recipients, domainanalysis, analysis of lists of allowed and/or disallowed recipients toreceive messages using particular communication accounts and textanalysis rules provided by other users in said user's social network.18. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the program instructionsof the computer program further comprise: displaying one or moreappropriate communication accounts to use to send said message to saidone or more recipients in response to said score being less than saidthreshold.
 19. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the programinstructions of the computer program further comprise: sending saidmessage to said one or more recipients using a communication accountselected from said displayed one or more appropriate communicationaccounts.
 20. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein said messagecomprises one of the following: an electronic message, an instantmessage, a text message and a post to a social media website.